• L’Iran peut-être responsable de l’explosion sur un navire israélien, selon Israël
    Par Le Figaro avec AFP | 27 février 2021
    https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/l-iran-peut-etre-responsable-de-l-explosion-sur-un-navire-israelien-selon-i

    Le ministre israélien de la Défense Benny Gantz a estimé ce samedi que l’Iran pourrait être responsable de l’explosion qui a touché un navire israélien dans le golfe d’Oman.

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    Le MV Helios Ray, un bateau israélien transportant des véhicules, effectuait le trajet entre Dammam, ville portuaire de l’est de l’Arabie saoudite, et Singapour, au moment de l’explosion jeudi au nord-ouest d’Oman, selon Dryad Global, une société spécialisée dans la sécurité maritime.

    « L’emplacement du bateau, relativement proche de l’Iran à ce moment, peut laisser penser qu’il s’agit des Iraniens mais c’est quelque chose qu’il faut continuer de vérifier », a déclaré Benny Gantz, interrogé sur la chaîne publique israélienne Kan. « C’est une première estimation qui prend en compte la proximité (avec le territoire iranien, ndlr) et le contexte, c’est ce que je pense ». (...)

    #IsraelIran

    • la dépêche Reuters

      Explosion Reported on Car Carrier in Gulf of Oman – gCaptain
      https://gcaptain.com/helios-ray-explosion-reported-car-carrier-gulf-of-oman


      M/V Helios Ray.
      Photo : MarineTraffic.com/Graham Flett

      A Bahamas-flagged ship, the MV HELIOS RAY, was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and a maritime security firm said on Friday.

      The cause of the explosion is not clear.

      Investigations are ongoing. Vessel and crew are safe,” the UKMTO’s advisory notice said, advising vessels in the area to exercise caution.

      The incident occurred at 2040 GMT, it said, but gave no details about a possible cause.

      Maritime security firm Dryad Global said the MV HELIOS RAY was a vehicle carrier owned by Helios Ray Ltd, an Israeli firm registered in the Isle of Man. The ship was en route to Singapore from Dammam in Saudi Arabia.

      A spokesman for Israel’s Transportation Ministry said it had no information about an Israeli vessel having been struck in the Gulf.

      A company with the name Helios Ray Ltd is incorporated in the Isle of Man. The ship was managed by Stamco Ship Management, Refinitiv ship tracking data showed. Stamco Ship Management declined to comment when contacted by phone by Reuters.

      Whilst details regarding the incident remain unclear it remains a realistic possibility that the event was the result of asymmetric activity by Iranian military,” Dryad said in a report on the incident.

      Refinitiv data shows the ship has set Dubai as its current destination.

      The U.S. Navy’s Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet said it was aware of the incident and monitoring the situation.

    • compagnie israélienne, domiciliée dans l’Île de Man, probablement armateur d’un seul navire, pratique usuelle de séparation des risques
      navire sous pavillon des Bahamas
      exploitant maritime : société grecque

      reste à savoir quel types de véhicule se trouvent à bord… peut-être exportation d’armes (véhicules blindés ou autres) ?

    • Israeli-owned vessel docked in Dubai after mysterious explosion | Conflict News | Al Jazeera
      https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/28/israeli-owned-cargo-docked-in-dubai-after-mysterious-explosion


      Israeli-owned cargo ship Helios Ray, partially damaged by an explosion, is seen after it anchored in Dubai, UAE
      Ali Haider/EPA

      The hulking Israeli-owned MV Helios Ray sat at dry dock facilities at Dubai’s Port Rashid on Sunday. Although the crew was unharmed in the blast, the vessel sustained two holes on its port side and two on its starboard side just above the waterline, according to American defence officials.
      […]
      The Helios Ray discharged cars at various ports in the Gulf before making its way out of the Middle East towards Singapore. The blast hit as the ship was sailing from the Saudi port Dammam out of the Gulf of Oman, forcing it to turn to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, for inspection.

      Iranian authorities have not publicly commented on the ship. The country’s hardline Kayhan daily, whose editor-in-chief was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, alleged the Helios Ray was “possibly” on an “espionag_e” mission in the region, without offering any evidence to support the claim. The _Sunday report speculated the ship may have been “trapped in an ambush by a branch of resistance axis”, referring to Iranian proxies in the region.


      The cargo vessel was hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman while bound for Singapore
      Ali Haider/EPA

    • Israeli-owned ship in Dubai for assessment after explosion | Reuters
      https://www.reuters.com/article/gulf-security-int-idUSKCN2AS053


      An Israeli-owned ship hit by an explosion in the strategic Gulf of Oman waterway is seen after arrival at a port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates February 28, 2021.
      REUTERS/Abdel Hadi Ramahi

      An Israeli-owned ship hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman strategic waterway has arrived at a port in Dubai, where is it is due to be assessed in dry dock.

      The MV Helios Ray, a vehicle-carrier ship, was hit overnight between Thursday and Friday by a blast above the water line that a U.S. defence official said ripped holes in both sides of its hull.

      Israel’s defence minister on Saturday said that an initial assessment had found that Iran was responsible for the explosion. There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials.

      The blue and white ship is now berthed in Dubai’s Port Rashid, having sailed from its position off the coast of Omani capital Muscat, where the explosion occurred.

    • Examination of Israeli-owned ship indicates Gulf blast was caused by mines — TV | The Times of Israel
      https://www.timesofisrael.com/examination-of-israeli-owned-ship-indicates-gulf-blast-caused-by-mine


      The Israeli-owned cargo ship, Helios Ray, sits docked in port in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 28, 2021.
      AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili

      Israeli officials increasingly believe explosion on vessel was operation by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, unsourced report says

      An examination of damage to an Israeli-owned cargo ship currently docked in Dubai indicates an explosion that hit it in the Gulf of Oman was caused by mines covertly attached to the ship, according to a Sunday TV report.

      Channel 13 news did not cite sources for the report, which contradicted earlier reported assessments in Israel that that blast was caused by missiles. An Israeli team is believed to be in Dubai to examine the ship following the suspected attack. The ship is undergoing repairs in Dubai.

      Limpet mines are a type of naval explosive that attach to targets using magnets. The report speculated that the mines could have been attached to the ship’s hull during a stop at a port and later set off.

      The network said that Israel increasingly believes a naval force from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind the attack. Channel 12 news raised the possibility that the explosion was the work of a commando team in a fast boat that attached explosives to the ship.

    • Nétanyahou menace l’Iran après l’attaque d’un navire de transport israélien en mer d’Oman
      https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/03/01/benyamin-netanyahou-menace-l-iran-apres-l-attaque-d-un-navire-de-transport-i

      Le premier ministre israélien, Benyamin Nétanyahou, a averti lundi 1er mars que son pays « frappera[it] » l’Iran « partout dans la région », après avoir accusé Téhéran d’être à l’origine d’une explosion à bord du cargo Helios-Ray, navire israélien qui bat pavillon des Bahamas.

      « Il est clair que c’est un acte iranien. Et pour ce qui est de ma riposte, vous connaissez ma politique. L’Iran est le plus grand ennemi d’Israël et je suis déterminé à l’arrêter et nous allons le frapper partout dans la région », a déclaré M. Nétanyahou lors d’une interview à la radio, après des frappes nocturnes attribuées à Israël contre des éléments pro-iraniens en Syrie voisine.

      « Plus important encore, l’Iran n’aura pas l’arme nucléaire, que ce soit dans le cadre d’un accord ou sans accord. C’est ce que j’ai dit à mon ami, le président [américain Joe] Biden », a ajouté le chef du gouvernement israélien, actuellement en campagne pour les législatives du 23 mars.

      « Nous rejetons fermement cette accusation », car « la source de cette accusation est elle-même la moins crédible qui soit, ce qui en montre l’invalidité », a déclaré le porte-parole du ministère des affaires étrangères iranen, Saïd Khatibzadeh, dans une conférence de presse à Téhéran.

  • Mental health ’emergency’ among child refugees in Greece
    Katy Fallon

    Concerns mount for children who have witnessed violence, a devastating camp fire, and other horrors in Greece.

    Names marked with an asterisk* have been changed to protect identities.

    Lesbos, Greece – Laleh*, an eight-year-old Afghan girl, is one of the thousands of children who live in the new, temporary camp on Lesbos, which was established in the wake of a devastating fire that destroyed the notorious Moria camp last September.

    She is among several children who are currently being treated at a mental health clinic on Lesbos, which is run by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), an organisation which has warned of a mental health “emergency” in the Greek island camps.

    Last year in Moria, a camp known for its poor living conditions, Laleh witnessed a violent fight as she was waiting in a queue for food with her father.

    Her mother Hawa*, 29, said that afterwards, Laleh started having panic attacks and became increasingly withdrawn and uncommunicative.

    The child was since hospitalised because she stopped eating. These days, she finds most activities challenging.

    The family now resides in the new camp in Mavrovouni, a dusty patch of earth where everyone lives in tents. The site is strictly monitored and most residents are only allowed to leave once a week.

    “During the day, she just lies down and closes her eyes,” said Hawa.

    A drawing by a child in Lesbos of the perilous sea journey to Europe undertaken by many migrants and refugees [Courtesy: MSF]

    At night, Laleh wears a nappy because she does not always say if she needs to go to the toilet.

    Something as simple as climbing steps can be difficult and feel overwhelming for her.

    “Before she was always drawing and painting,” Hawa said. “She was very hopeful, she wanted to be a doctor in the future.

    “It’s really hard for me as a mother. Laleh never had this problem before. When it started I was so worried and sad, I didn’t know how to manage,” she said. “She doesn’t really speak, she’s very quiet.”

    The fire which reduced Moria to ashes traumatised the family further.

    “Laleh had a psychogenic [non-epileptic] seizure and she fell down, everyone was shouting and running, it was a very difficult time.”

    A drawing by a child in Lesbos depicting the fire which raced through the Moira refugee camp in September [Courtesy: MSF]

    Laleh has had trouble sleeping and so Hawa lies with her and tells her stories, massaging her head in the hope it will soothe her.

    The family has seen some improvement in Laleh’s condition since she started attending MSF’s clinic, but she is still very withdrawn.

    Hawa said the securitised nature of the camp also has an effect on the children who live there.

    It is yet unclear whether the camp is being policed because of the pandemic and fears that the refugees may contract or spread the coronavirus, or as part of an increasingly securitised approach towards camps on the Greek islands.

    “Most of the children are afraid of the police because there are so many police around, it’s very difficult to go out of the camp and the children believe it’s a prison and that they can’t get out,” she said.

    Hawa herself said she views the camp as a “prison”, adding: “I hope that we leave this camp, this is my only hope for now.”

    Refugees and migrants wait to be transferred to camps on the mainland after their arrival on a passenger ferry from the island of Lesbos at the port of Lavrio, Greece, in September 2020 [File: Costas Baltas/Reuters]

    In 2020, child psychologists at MSF noted 50 cases of children with suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.

    “I never imagined it would be this bad,” said Katrin Glatz-Brubakk, a mental health supervisor for MSF on Lesbos.

    She told Al Jazeera they have seen children with severe depression, suicidal thoughts and that many have stopped playing.

    “As a child psychologist, I get very worried when children don’t play at all and we see a lot of that in the camp,” Glatz-Brubakk said.

    “Many of the children have experienced trauma but if they were moved to a [place with] safe and good [conditions] they would start healing from it. Now they get sicker and sicker because of the conditions they live in.

    “We are basically giving them skills to deal with a situation they should never be living in in the first place, it’s not treatment: it’s survival.”

    #Greece #mental_health #trauma #suicide #children #camps #Lesbos #MSF

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/11/children-dont-play-at-all-mental-health-crisis-stalks-lesbos